Forest Effects on Snow in the Pacific Northwest

Date:

2017

Funding source:

NW CSC funded project

Institution:

Oregon State University

University of Idaho

University of Washington

Fiscal Year:

2017

Across the Northwest, melt-off from mountain snowpack is an important source of summer water, supporting irrigation, native fish and hydropower. A new paper in the journal Hydrological Processes examines how alpine forest cover influences snowpack, providing insights that will help managers protect regional sources of summer water. The study was funded by the Northwest Climate Science Center and was undertaken as a collaborative effort between researchers at University of Washington, Oregon State University, University of Idaho, and Seattle Public Utilities. Susan Dickerson-Lange, lead author on the paper will present the results at the 2017 Salmon Recovery Conference next month.